Anyone for crochet?

Who does that giant paw belong to?

 

 

It belongs to one of three gigantic hand crocheted lions.

 

 

Aren't they fantastic?

These beautiful lions are the largest single-handed crochet sculpture in the World, and are currently welcoming visitors at the entrance to Twycross Zoo, which is where I saw them over the Easter Holidays.

 



 

This is called The Lionheart Project and is the creation of Shauna Richardson.

 

As part of London 2012's Cultural Olympiad, artists across the UK were challenged to submit ideas that celebrated their region.  Shauna submitted this project to symbolise the textile heritage of the East Midlands.  Apparently it took Shauna 2 years to hand-crochet these immense beasts.  She used 36 miles of yarn, from the wool of 150 Derbyshire Dales sheep.

 

Prior to the opening of the London Olympic Games, the project toured the East Midlands, staying in major towns before travelling to The Natural History Museum in London.  As you can see they are now back in the East Midlands, and where could be more fitting for three lions to reside than Twycross Zoo.

 

I'm not sure that my very poor photographs provide you with a true sense of scale.  What if I told you that the lions are housed in a custom built exhibition case, which is 16 metres long.  They really are big!

 

To check out much, much better photos than mine, of the lions in some beauty settings, including Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, please follow this link.

 

You can read more about Shauna here, and about The Lionheart Project here.

 

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A new place to knit and natter (and buy beautiful yarn)

 

Today I'd like to tell you about a lovely new yarn shop, which has recently opened its doors.

 

 

It's the brainchild of two lovely ladies, Ana (pictured below) and Vickie.

 

 

With a love of beautiful yarns, Ana and Vickie have stocked their shelves with all our favourites, including Bergere de France, MillaMia, Fyberspates, Easyknits, and Malabrigo.  You can even buy beautiful skeins of Stitch Solihull's own brand of hand dyed yarn,  lovingly dyed by Vickie's own fair hand.

  

 

It's not just a haven for knitters and people who love to crochet though.  Oh no. There's something for everyone's needle. Whether it be dressmaking, quilting, cross stitch, or embroidery.  Ana  and Vickie have sourced the best quality products, for which they should be very proud.

 

 

 

Isn't this the perfect little spot to sit, knit and natter with other likeminded folk.

 

Ana and Vickie hold regular knit & natter sessions here every Thursday (11am - 1pm), Friday (2pm- 4pm), and Saturday (11am - 1pm).

 

There is a sewing room at the back, full of Janome machine, where they will be able to offer sewing classes from May.

 

Before Violet started school, and on the evenings my other half came home from work at a decent hour, I used to attend Stitch Solihull's knitting group, which is held in a coffee shop in the centre of town.  Alas, it's been some time since I've been able to attend those meetings, but since the opening of the shop, I am now able to get my weekly knit and natter fix again. Yippee!

 

I would like to wish Ana and Vickie every success as they embark on this exciting new adventure in to business.

 

If you ever find yourself in my neck of the woods, and fancy popping in to this great little shop, you can find them here and here.

 

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Keepsake

 

A very good Monday morning to you all. 

 

I trust you managed to enjoy the glorious sunshine over the weekend.

 

Some of you asked to hear more about my up coming wedding. 

 

We'll be getting married at York Register Office in mid June.  It'll only be a very small, private affair with only a handful of guests.  We've hired their smallest room, which holds a maximum of eight guests, so that tells you just how small a wedding it will be.

 

You've already seen my dress, but would you like to see Violet's bridesmaid dress?

 

 

Isn't it pretty?

 

Now let me tell you a secret.  You'll have to keep it under your hat, because Violet hasn't got a clue about the extra special surprise she'll be receiving when she puts this bridesmaid dress on.

 

Sometimes I have little brainwaves, they don't happen very often, but I'm actually quite proud of this one.

 

I decided that instead of Violet carrying a basket of flowers, I thought that it would be a lovely idea for her to carry one of Vivienne's beautiful bunnies, all dressed up in the same outfit as her.

 

 I emailed Vivienne with my idea and asked her if she would be able to make one for me.  I was thrilled when she agreed.  I sent her photos of the dress and pieces of fabric, which were the closest I could match to the actual dress.  In no time at all, bunny Violet arrived in the post.

 

This is what the extremely talented Vivienne created, and it's fantastic.

 

I know that I'm biased, but I think this is Vivienne's greatest bunny creation yet, and she's made some absolutely beauties.

 

All the attention to detail is wonderful. There are the exact number of beads on her dress, matching Violet's perfectly.  Vivienne has even positioned them in the exact same place.

 

 

Shall I tell you the greatest thing about this wonderful little bunny bridesmaid, who's also called Violet by the way.  Vivienne made her as a wedding gift for me.  How truly wonderful is that?  I can tell you that I was overwhelmed by Vivienne's generosity, and she blew me away with her creativity.

 

I am so very proud to own a Green Rabbit Designs original.

 

I can't wait for Violet to see her.

 

Not only will Bunny Violet be Violet's little companion throughout the day, but she'll be a lovely keepsake for us all.

 

Thank you Vivienne.

xx

A rainbow of colour

 

I hadn't planned on being away from blogland over the Easter break, but we've been so busy.

Where the days have gone, I haven't a clue.  They've all flown by so quickly and now Violet's gone back to school this morning and the house is silent, and to tell you the truth, quite lonely.  I really miss my little companion. 

 

Friend's have been to stay.

We've visited the Zoo.

Had trips to the theatre and cinema.

Travelled to York & Nottingham.

Attended birthday parties.

Taught friends how to sew and knit.

& countless other things.

Our days have been full, and we've had lots of fun (quite a lot of coffee, cake, and chocolate might have been consumed too).

 

I did manage to grab a little time for knitting.

 

Something nice and simple, and most of all, colourful!!!!

 

 

Isn't it wonderful?

 

 

It's my new Spring Scarf.

 



 

It's a very simple pattern, and I just love all the bright colours in the yarn.

 

The pattern is called Chevron Scarf by Domesticat and you can find it for free on Ravelry.

 

I used a yarn I've never used before called Koigu Painters Palette Premium Merino (KPPPM), and it was really lovely to knit with. 

 

I bought 2 different colour palettes, P132 & P133, and alternated them until all the yarn had been used up.

 

This scarf really makes me happy, with it's vibrant rainbow of colours. Just the right accessory to lift my spirits on these windy, grey, Spring mornings.

 

What have you been knitting?



Photos of Easter

 

We hunted for chocolate eggs.

 



 

We ate a fantastic Easter lunch. 

 

 

Beef Wellington.  It was lip smackingly good.

 

 

We fed the little lambs.

 

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter too.

 

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Over a year in the making.

I've finally finished my Mandel sweater - phew! 

I began this project way, way back in January 2012, and can't believe that it's taken me 14 months to get it finished.

 

 

This sweater and I have had some fallings out along the way.  To such an extent that I frogged the whole thing and started again from scratch.

 

Perhaps I'm just not cut out for knitting clothing for myself (or for anybody over the age of 5).

 

Knitting this sweater has actually made me question whether I can actually knit at all.  Maybe I've just been playing around at it in the past, and I'm not the competent knitter I like to think I am.

 

(please ignore our spare room in the background - it's a total mess)

 

I’m fairly pleased with the end result, but I'm sure that if I'd have had more experience of knitting garments for myself, I could have done a much better job.

 

Practice makes perfect I guess.

 

 Luckily it fits perfectly and even though I used a cotton yarn, it’s very warm.  In fact, I'm wearing it today - there's a snowy blizzard going on outside as I type.

 

What I love about this sweater are the pleat details across each front of the shoulder saddles, and down each side of the body, which create a lovely drapey effect.  These details are what inspired me to knit this sweater in the first place.

 

Materials:

Yarn: Rowan Pima Cotton DK

Colourway: Peppercorn.

Needles: 3mm

 

Mods:

 Cast on 12 stitches underarm.
Did 7 pleats (rows 20, 36, 52, 68, 84, 100, 116).
Knit body until back measured 60cm.
Didn’t do the false seams on either the body or the sleeves.
For each arm I picked up 49 stitches from scrap yarn and 12 stitches from underarm, knit 1 round, then on next round made 3 stitches (total stitches 64).

 

If I made this sweater again I’d knit both the body, and the arms that little bit longer. Also, I wouldn’t flare out the cuff at the bottom of the sleeve.

 

I was planning on casting on for this sleeveless top by Veera Välimäki next.  Though I'm a little apprehensive.

 

I suppose it's best to just bite the bullet and cast on for another garment, before I chicken out altogether, and just knit hats and scarves for the rest of my life.  Sometimes we need to step out of our comfort zones don't we?

 

I should really try and conquer another one of my knitting fears - knitting socks!!!

 

Hope you're all managing to keep warm in this Wintry weather.

 

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Birthday Dinosaur Adventure

 

I'm completely gutted - our Easter Bonnet didn't win.  Perhaps there weren't enough cotton wool balls or fluffy chicks on it.  Oh well, better luck next year.

 

Fancy seeing what we got up to at the weekend?

 

We ventured to the Natural History Museum in London.

 

Violet didn't want a party for her birthday this year.  Instead she wanted to see Dinosaurs.

 

We'd had quite a lot of snow here during Friday night and we were worried that our train might be cancelled.  Luckily, everything seemed to be running OK, so we put on plenty of warm clothes, packed some sandwiches and off we went.

 

I'm not a fan of the underground, I much prefer to walk, and walk we did, from Marylebone Station, through Hyde Park and on to the museum. It may have been ever so slightly cold and damp, and the snow kept persisting it down, but we were wrapped up toasty.

 

Kensington Gardens is a very pretty part of Hyde Park, and must look lovely in the Summer.

 

(Violet trying to catch snowflakes in her mouth)

 

Here we all are standing besides the statue of Peter Pan by Sir George Frampton.

 

 

We were very surprised to see a long queue of people waiting to get in to the museum.  Luckily we only had to wait about 10 minutes before we were allowed in. 

 

We headed straight for the Dinosaur gallery. 

 

It was extremely busy and I become quite claustrophobic in a crowd.  We were jostled and pushed and squashed, which wasn't in the least bit pleasant.  In the end I had to pick Violet up because her head kept getting hit by people's backpacks.  I find that people without children can be quite oblivious to their existence, and anything below their eye level just doesn't register.

 

After 'surviving' the Dinosaur gallery we ventured to other parts of museum.

 

It really is an immense building and the architecture is stunning.

 

 

Next we headed to the Mammals gallery.

 

Photographs aren't very good at capturing the true size of things, but you can just about spot the people near this model of a Blue Whale.  They really are huge.

 

 

These Agates caught my eye whilst we were looking around the minerals gallery.

 

 

(Violet standing next to the statue of Charles Darwin)

 

 If you're wondering about the teddy bear Violet's holding.  It's not one of hers, it's Mr Cuddles from school.  They knew she was off to London and gave her the class bear to take with her.  Of course I've now got to write up an exciting adventure for all the children to read.  Oh the joys of motherhood!

 

I hate these darn bears.  Not because I mind taking them out and about with us.  Even writing up a diary isn't that bad.  It's just that when they get to us, they're grubby and stinky. The first thing that happens to the poor teddies when they arrive at our home is a quick trip to the laundry room (garage) and a spin around the washing machine.

 

What I liked about the Natural History Museum:  Free admission and there is a more than decent picnic area (with canteen and toilet facilities).

 

What I didn't like about the Natural History Museum:  It was very busy and you really had to watch your little one for fear of them being swept away in a crowd.

 

All in all we had a very enjoyable day.

 

We're thinking about going back to London in the summer to visit the Science Museum.

 

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